FAIRFAX, VA. – Behind timely hits and stellar pitching, the Ursinus College baseball team picked up a 6-3 decision over Elmira College on Sunday afternoon.
 

With the victory, Ursinus improves to 1-2 to open the 2025 season while the Eagles fell to 1-2 overall. Seniors Jakob Cantor, Andrew Richter, and sophomore Brandon Sullivan paced the Bears offense with two hits apiece. Sophomore Barritt Ross went 1-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and collected a save on the mound by tallying the final three outs.

 
Senior lefty Kieran Hollander (1-0) received the start on the mound and scattered two hits over five innings pitched and four strikeouts. Meanwhile, junior Max Shilstone, senior Connor Bogansky, and first-year Grayson Bravo each struck out at least two batters during clean relief appearances for the Bears.  

 
Ursinus opened with the game's first run in the top of the first as Ross opened with a free pass before advancing to second on a base hit from Sullivan. After a sacrifice bunt, senior Peter Balos collected an RBI on a groundout to third. Hollander took the mound and kept the Eagles lineup off balance by facing the minimum through the first two innings.

 
In the top of the third inning, Ross collected a one-out triple to left field and later scored on a wild pitch to increase the Bears' lead to 2-0. The Eagles answered by putting two runners on base in their half of the third, but two flyouts allowed Hollander to escape the jam. Next, in the fifth inning, Ursinus added another run to extend their lead to 3-0 at the halfway point. A leadoff walk and an Eagles defensive miscue put two runners on base leading to an Elmira pitching change. After a sacrifice bunt, Sullivan brought home junior Tyler Dinan via a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Back-to-back free passes loaded the bases for Ursinus, but a strikeout stranded three runners to close out the frame.
 

On the mound, Hollander had a runner reach scoring position but back-to-back strikeouts and a flyout ended the threat and his first outing of the season. Shilstone took the rubber for Ursinus in the sixth inning and struck out the first two batters, before a groundout sent the contest into the seventh inning. Ursinus extended their lead to 6-0 in the seventh inning as Sullivan led off the frame with a single and a stolen base. Cantor followed up with a double into center field to score Sullivan, while an error from the Eagles allowed Cantor to cross the plate. The Bears closed out the inning as senior Jordan Williams scored on a failed pickoff attempt to give Ursinus a six-run advantage.
 

In the ninth inning, Elmira scored three runs and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs but a strikeout from Ross ended the contest with the Bears' winning 6-3.
 

The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, February 26th as they travel to Scranton University with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.